Northwestern University scientists have developed the first liquid nanoscale laser. And it’s tunable in real time, meaning you can quickly and simply produce different colors, a unique and useful feature. The laser technology could lead to practical applications, such as a new form of a “lab on a chip” for medical diagnostics.
Nanoscopic lasers — first demonstrated in 2009 — are only found in research labs today. They are, however, of great interest for advances in technology and for military applications.
At the present time to change color of laser by needing a different laser pointer for every desired color. In this laser whose color can be changed simply by changing the liquid inside it. In addition to changing color in real time, the liquid nanolaser has additional advantages over other nanolasers: it is simple to make, inexpensive to produce and operates at room temperature.The findings were published by the journal Nature Communications.
The laser’s cavity is made up of an array of reflective gold nanoparticles, where the light is concentrated around each nanoparticle and then amplified. In contrast to conventional laser cavities, no mirrors are required for the light to bounce back and forth. Notably, as the laser color is tuned, the nanoparticle cavity stays fixed and does not change; only the liquid gain around the nanoparticles changes. The laser’s color can be changed in real time when the liquid dye in the microfluidic channel above the laser’s cavity is changed. Thus this research is not a laser pointer but a laser device on a chip.
The main advantages of liquid Nanolasers are:
• They can be used as on-chip light sources for optoelectronic integrated circuits.
• They can be used in optical data storage and lithography.
• They can operate reliably at one wavelength and
• They should be able to operate much faster than conventional lasers because they are made from metals.
• They can be used as on-chip light sources for optoelectronic integrated circuits.
• They can be used in optical data storage and lithography.
• They can operate reliably at one wavelength and
• They should be able to operate much faster than conventional lasers because they are made from metals.
